The Woods
by astonishes
Summary: You always said you wanted a secret that only the woods and the people who exprienced the event would hold. Now, you have one.


Hey guys! This is my attempt at a X-Men fic. I've never written one so if it's horrible...sorry. Plus, I wrote this at midnight. :P

**Title:** The Woods  
**Summary**: "You always said you wanted a secret that only the woods and the people who experienced the event would hold. Now, you have one."  
**Pairing**: Slight Scott/Rogue  
**Disclaimer**: I don't own. Otherwise, the third movie would've gone quite differently...

* * *

She pushed a lock of her slightly damp hair behind her ear and let out a long sigh. She sat at the window chair in the double room she shared with Kitty. She looked out the window into the bright night sky. The moon lit up the grounds and the garden looked calming and inviting. Deciding that sleep wouldn't come again that night, she quickly jumped off the seat, grabbed her favorite hoodie and slipped out her room. She padded down the hall in bare feet, slipping the jacket over her head and breathing in the familar scent. It was a mix of flowers, Jubilee's perfume, and whatever Scott used to clean his clothes left over from when the jacket had been mixed in with Scott's clothing.

She pushed open the door and walked into the open field. The grass was soft and wet beneath her toes and the air was cool. She hugged the sweater even closer to her and closed her eyes, taking in the feel. With some of Logan's powers left over, she could hear the sound of a bird in the distance, taste the crisp breeze, and hear footsteps approaching. She gave a small gasp when she opened her eyes and turned around, coming face to face with their fearless leader.

"Holy crap; you scared me," she said, putting a hand over her rapidly beating heart.

His eyes were covered by his glasses but she could faintly make out the outline of them due to their proximity and noticed an apologetic look in them. "Sorry."

"It's fine. What are you doing out here?" She asked, trying to ignore the surge of feelings coming to her mind from being so close. She blamed it to the left over emotions from when she had accidentally touched Jean last week.

"I was in the kitchen and heard someone come out here. It's a little past your bedtime," he told her, quickly falling into his strict teacher mode.

"Well, I couldn't sleep and I thought that a walk or a bit of fresh air would help clear my mind and let me fall asleep," she explained. "What are you doing up?"

"It's not really any of your buisness," he told her.

"You're worried about Jean being on that mission with Logan, aren't you?" she asked teasingly.

"No," he replied defensively.

"Don't worry, I'm worried about Logan as well. He's my only friend and who knows what can happen. I mean, I know it's kind of impossible for him to die and all but still..." she told him, looking down at her bare feet.

"They're going to be okay; Jean and Logan are trained to be excellent fighters with and without their powers," he reasssured her.

"I know," she said, looking up into his eyes. "But what if something else happens?"

"Like what?" he asked, confusion clouding his features.

"...Forget about it; it's silly," she said, shaking her head to clear the thoughts that had formed.

"Just tell me," he demanded.

"It's just...I worry that maybe...I don't know. It's stupid because I _know_ I'm so out of his league and definitely no competition for Jean Grey and all but...what if they realize that they're meant to be after all?" She asked timidly. His features fell into an expression of anger before quickly becoming blank.

"That won't happen. Jean is extremely loyal and would never do that to me," he said, reassuring himself more than her.

"I know, I know," she told him. "But you can't help but wonder-"

"Try not to," he replied stiffly.

"You think it'll happen as well, don't you, Mr. Summers?" she asked. Scott looked directly at her, face blank.

"Go to bed," he ordered. She nodded her head and turned once again to face the night sky.

"Would you like to go for a walk with me, Mr. Summers?" she asked him, ignoring his previous statement.

"It's time for bed," he told her once more.

"Okay, then. Goodnight and see you in math tomorrow morning," she told him, walking off into the massive forest surrounding the campus. He rolled his eyes and thought for a moment about following her. He shook his head and told himself it was a bad idea before running off to catch up with her.

* * *

"You know, everyday I look at these woods and wonder what goes on here. I mean, they must hold so many secrets and yet, no one will probably ever know them except for the people who were here to exprience it. I wonder if one day, I'll have my own secret in this wood," she told him, careful not to step on any twigs.

He looked at her profile and smiled. That comment was just so...random and so...her. He had walked these woods plenty of times with Jean and the only thing she had wondered about was how he could stand to be in them for so long with all the bugs. Just the thought of her out there with Logan, alone, tugged the corners of his mouth down.

"You're thinking about her again, aren't you?" she asked, looking directly at him. He bowed his head down and turned towards her.

"Everyday," he told her after a moment of silence.

"Hmm?" she asked.

"You asked earlier if I ever think about her and Logan together. I do, everyday. I wonder why the Professor didn't send me with her instead and I wonder why they've been gone for so long. I understand that it's a big mission but..." he trailed off, not quite sure he wanted to tell her everything he was thinking about at the moment.

"It's perfectly simple; we need you here. You're our leader, Logan's not. Logan is very focused, as you are, but he's more suited for the job because he'll be able to fit into normal human life faster," she told him, shrugging her shoulders casually. "You probably are more suited for the job instead of Logan but the Professor thought about the long term effects of the mission. Like, if anything were to happen and they ended up being gone for a prolonged period of time, who would help run the school and the X-Men?"

Scott pondered that thought for a moment. "And it turned out to be a good thing he considered those things because they _have_ been gone for a really long time," she added.

"I guess," he whispered. He looked at her innocent face, her eyes sparkling with concern for her leader and her mouth formed into a content smile. "When did you become such an expert on people?"

Her smile faltered a bit and she suddenly looked older and wiser, her features becoming serious. "When we were up at Liberty Island, and I absorbed Magneto and then Logan, it changed me. Just like absorbing Jean and my first boyfriend, Cody, did. I have a piece of them permnantly burned into my mind. And they won't ever go away. Thanks to the Professor and Jean, I've been able to sort of control them a bit but...they're always going to be there, influencing my every move, teaching me what I need to know. I'll never go back to being just plain ol' Marie or Rogue or...whoever I really am. But that's okay," she told him, shrugging.

Scott absorbed everything she had just told him. He wondered what it would be like to have different people's personalities be a part of you, whether you want it or not. He involuntarily shuddered. "How are you so...calm about this?"

"Well, I figure that I fight for a good cause. And if having more personalities in my head than I'm used to, it'll be okay. Because they make me who I am. And I like who I am. I'm just learning now to think of my power as a gift, not a curse. While it doesn't do much good unless I'm up close to someone, it's useful. I can get information for you guys and I can use another mutants power...it's all for something I believe in. No pain, no gain," she told him, a small giggle escaping her lips. "It all boils down to the fact that...well, the feeling of fighting for what you believe in, it's just so...amazing!"

He looked at her smiling face and could see the true excitment in them. "I know how you feel," he told her, smiling back down at her. When he had first joined Xavier's team, he loved fighting for his cause. Now, almost ten years later, it still held the same joy for him. When he would talk with Jean about it, though, you could tell that sometimes she questioned whether it was all really worth it.

Jean...he just couldn't stop thinking about her lately. Everything he thought of eventually made it's way back to her and at the moment...he wished it hadn't. He was thinking about all of the things that drove him insane about her. Things that used to make him smile now just...annoyed him. And he was noticing things about Rogue that were just so...cute and...not Jean.

"Hey Scott?" she asked, waving a hand in front of his face. He blinked twice and faced her. "You okay?"

"Yeah," he told her, smiling. "I think I am."

She smiled up at him and threw her arms around his neck in a hug. "Thanks Scott," she whispered in his ear. He had to fight from letting the chills slip down his spine.

"For what?" he asked, brow furrowed in confusion.

"For listening and...caring. You're amazing. If Jean ever leaves you, you must know she's absolutely insane. It doesn't matter how good-looking or great Logan is. She's still insane," she told him, admiration in her eyes. She pulled back and looked at the ground shyly, shifting from foot to foot.

"Thanks, Rogue," he told her, smiling.

"...Marie," she said tentatively. "My name's Marie."

"Marie," he tested. "I like it."

She smiled like a kid at Christmas time and hugged him once more. This time, he pulled his head back and gave her a kiss, waiting for the pull of her powers. After a minute or so, they both pulled back. "Umm...wow," she breathed.

"That was odd..." he thought aloud.

"What?" she asked, still holding him in the hug.

"You never absorbed me," he told her.

"Oh...that is odd," she told him, brows crinkling in thought. "But...what was that for?"

"You always said you wanted a secret that only the woods and the people who exprienced the event would hold. Now, you have one," he told her. She smiled at him shyly and hugged him tightly once more, breathing in the scent of Scott. She how realized what the comforting smell was.

Pine trees.

* * *

**Ehh...I decided to try a shot at an X-Men fic, considering they're like...my new obssesion. I just recently saw the movies and fell in love with them. :) Tell me what you think, flames accepted as well:)**


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